Open for Business: Somers High Horizons Cafe

The opening night of any restaurant is a delicate blend of frenzied activity, mounting stress and pure excitement.

For the students of Somers High School Horizon Café it was no different on March 31.

The computer wouldn’t work. They couldn’t find the soupspoons and the creamer had gone missing. And 15 minutes before opening the first customers strolled down the long hallway leading to the hostess station expecting to be seated.

It was “all good,” though.

“It’s pretty amazing that we can pull it together,” hostess Andrea Reutter, 18, senior said after seating Tom Loftus, 76, of Enfield, and Fran Boudreau in the Anne Gengenbach dining area.

“I’ve heard good things,” Boudreau, 77, of Somers, said as he waited for his filet mignon to be delivered to his table.

Horizons Café has been part of the Somers High School community for at least two decades. An integral part of the school’s food service program, the café provides students with more than they would experience in a simple lab exercise. 

“It gives them an opportunity to see what it’s really like in a restaurant,” food service instructor Lynn Tracy said last week.

The course curriculum is more than how to use the kitchen. The students learn about safety, sanitation, food preparation and dinning room services. In the fall, the class prepares breakfast and lunch for students and staff. In the spring, the full service restaurant is opened to the public. Throughout the seasons the students rotate responsibilities so each has a chance to experience what it’s like to be at the grill and at the table.

“I want them to be in an actual real-life situation. I want them to use their knowledge and show the public what they’ve learned,” Tracy said.

For kitchen manager Nick Wylot, 19, a senior, despite it being his third year working in the café, the nerves and anxiety of opening night were still present.

“It’s pretty crazy, a lot going on,” Wylot said last week as he visited stations to check on the preparation underway. “The food is actually pretty good for a student run restaurant.”

Wylot’s counterpart in the dining room, Kaily Jones, 18, a senior, hurried around the tables making sure the appropriate silverware had been set, the candled were in place and the red and white linen were draped and folded appropriately.

When asked her favorite part of the experience, Jones and fellow dining room staff Justin Murdza, 17, a seniors, credited their teacher.

“Ms. Tracy, she’s really down to earth, laid back, but still get the job done,” Murdza said as he sorted through forks, knives and spoons.

“She cares about what we have to say and our opinions,” Jones added.

Donna Delany, an alternative education teacher at the high school who volunteers to help at the café, said the experience the students receive is nearly priceless.

“They work really hard. It would be nice for people to come and show support not only for the program, but for the students,” Delany said before going to the dining room for a final check.

The café can serve up to 75 people per night, but that’s traffic the restaurant doesn’t normally see unless the café is open the same night as the drama club has a performance in the high school auditorium.

The money collected for the meals helps to cover the costs associated with the food and supplies for the restaurant. Anything extra goes back into the program.

“It’s pretty self sufficient program,” Tracy said. “The customers get a lot of food for their money. The students take pride in their work, yes, the goof up sometimes, but they put out a good product.”

The Horizons Café is open each Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. through April 28, except for April 21 when the school is closed for vacation. To make a reservation call 860-749-2270 ext. 4170, and just a tip… the 5 and 6 o’clock hours are the most popular times so if that’s when you want to go make your reservation early. The pre-fixed menu is $15 and includes soup, salad and an entrée, along with a beverage; desserts are available for an extra price. A children’s menu is also available.